Tuesday, May 1, 2018

According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments fell 2 percent annually to reach 345 million units in Q1 2018. Samsung recaptured first position with 23 percent global smartphone marketshare, while Apple grew slightly to 15 percent share. Huawei and Xiaomi performed best among the major players and both hit record marketshare levels.

Linda Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global smartphone shipments fell 2 percent annually from 353.8 million units in Q1 2017 to 345.4 million in Q1 2018. The global smartphone market has slowed down this year, due to longer replacement rates, diminishing carrier subsidies, and a lack of new hardware design innovation.”

Samsung recaptured first place this quarter, after losing top spot to Apple in the previous Q4 2017 holiday season. Samsung is holding steady in its core markets of North America, Western Europe and South Korea, but the company is facing intense competitive pressure in China and India from rivals such as Xiaomi.

Apple grew an above-average 3 percent annually and shipped 52.2 million smartphones for 15 percent marketshare worldwide in Q1 2018. Apple iPhone shipments have grown year-on-year in three of the past 4 quarters. Apple’s ultra-premium iPhone X is proving relatively popular in some markets like China and the US, while there remains scope for additional expansion in emerging regions such as India and Africa.”

Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Huawei maintained third position with a record 11 percent global smartphone marketshare in Q1 2018, up from 10 percent a year ago. Huawei’s smartphone growth rate was a healthy 14 percent annually in the quarter. Despite political headwinds in North America, Huawei gained momentum across all other regions in the rest of the world, with popular new models such as the Honor 7X.”

Linda Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Xiaomi shipped an impressive 28.3 million smartphones and jumped to fourth position with a record 8 percent global marketshare in Q1 2018, doubling from 4 percent share a year ago. Xiaomi’s growth soared 125 percent annually in the quarter, outperforming all its major rivals. Xiaomi is expanding like wildfire across Asia, particularly in India.